I had been warned. I sort of knew what was going to happen. I had no expectations, considering the trainwreck that was the first book. But when I read the ending, I was pretty muchI mean, after pretty much everything you've done for Valdemar, that's what you get in the end? Forget about duty, responsibility, and doing what was right because you can't do otherwise. As Pat Jr from Silver Linings Playbook more or less said, there's enough shit we have to deal with in real life, why can't we have a

I'm not sure how I feel about this book, so I'm going to ramble (hopefully constructively) and maybe by the end I'll figure out a rating.This series has been a rough ride for me so far. It started out with promising world-building but mostly mediocre execution. It hit some lows (my only one-star rating for this year thus far and a DNF) and it even managed to hit a high with the previous book in this trilogy, Magic's Promise. Everything that's bugged me about this series so far were absent from t...

4.5 starsThis third book of The Last Herald-Mage trilogy was my favourite of the three, although I have to say I enjoyed all of them.Unlike many of my friends who read this series when they were much younger, and whose revisitations are now permanently elevated by nostalgia, this was a first reading for me. There is something eminently comfortable about these books, which provides even new readers like myself a sense of ease and satisfaction with the story.Among many things I liked about it was

I am rather relieved to say that, despite all expectations, this book did not leave me sobbing in the end. There was a tear or two, but I wasn’t broken. I was glued to the page, though, and have no doubt I’ll be rereading this again soon. ”If I die, I’ll either take him with me, or leave him so crippled he’ll be not threat. So help me, I will protect Valdemar with my last breath, and if there is a way to protect her after my death, I’ll find it.” Magic’s Price is the final volume in the Last-H...

If I had been paying attention to the series title (and the title of this volume), I would have had a better idea of where this book was headed! I suppose you could interpret the ending as a sad one—in my opinion, the results were unavoidable and unsurprising.I was fond of Vanyel as a character. Lackey has written more books sent in Valdemar, but I’m not sure that I’ll continue on without him. I was glad to see him get a new love interest in Stefan and squeeze in a bit of happiness around his du...

Parts of these books I really like -- and then other parts make me want to either throw the book across the room, or smack Mercedes upside the head a few times.Lackey is pretty darned good at manipulating emotions when she sets her mind to it. I'm just as susceptible to melodrama as the next person, and probably more susceptible than many -- and Lackey's books don't lack for that. On the other hand, Lackey often doesn't seem terribly concerned with logic. For instance, an especially egregious (a...

The books are well written, I'm not debating that. What I am hating is the main character, Vanyel. I usually tolerate goody two-shoes to a great extend, but this character just want to make me barf. Pretty much he sacrifices everything in order to save his kingdom, a kingdom that doesn't even like him for who he is and only care for his supermagic. Frankly the ending suck, so if anyone is expecting a HEA or HFN, this series is not for you—it's a tear-jerker. It's one thing to give up your life f...

Review may contain spoilers for those who have not read the first two books in the Last Herald-Mage series. Vanyel gets a new boyfriend. Sure, there's a lot of other stuff about ruling a kingdom steward-style for the ailing king and loads of heroic feats including surviving torture, defeating an entire army with several powerful mages, and dying a bloody death. But mostly, Vanyel gets an awesome new boyfriend. (view spoiler)[ It turns out that this new fellow is the reincarnation of the old fell...

Last one! It's a toss up whether this one or the first is my favorite, it's so hard to pick. Anyway, here we go:Price is set about eight years after the end of Promise. Vanyel is no longer on the front lines of the war; he's been put in a more or less administrative position in Haven. That doesn't necessarily mean he's not working as hard. The king, Randale, who has been suffering from a chronic illness for years, suddenly becomes fatally ill, and the Healers don't even know what is causing his

Thank goodness Lackey allows Vanyel a couple of moments of happiness in this last book in The Last Herald-mage trilogy. A couple of moments before whacking everything apart, that is, then going into some pretty dark places, making Vanyel's youthful horrible visions of a dark mage a reality.Again, the character writing is sensitive, and sad as the ending is, there is a tiny bit of hope there, too. And Yfandes is the best.

This initial fantasy trilogy is a really fun read.

Final Rating: 4.25/5 “I only know that without you, no rank or fame would be worth having.”***“As long as I can be with you” Well, this one outright slaughtered me (and healed me again). But in the end, I will talk about mostly about good and the bad, as it is the end of a series.Let's start with good things:► This is a character driven story. There is a lot of focus on characters and their surrounding families, royalty, other heralds and companions. A lot of in fact. Which is very mu...

I was debating giving this book a three, because I did enjoy parts, but in the end I decided it just wasn't good enough. You can read other reviews to see what's wrong with it, but, in a nutshell: most of the issues in the story aren't well-resolved, such as the king's illness and the idea of Stefen as a reincarnation of Tylendel, and most importantly, who the hell Leareth is; there is a severe inconsistency in the difference between the deaths of the two herald-mages and Savil's death which is

Ugh. So many things wrong with this book, where to begin…Magic’s Price, the third and final novel in Lackey’s Last Herald-uMage series, takes place nine years after the events of the series’ second novel, Magic’s Promise – which, when added to the 11-year gap between the events of books 1 and 2, puts us at a convenient 20 years after the events of Magic’s Pawn. “Price” centers on the political and personal upheavals threatening or taking place in (respectively) Valdemar: religious war may break

This is the ending of this trilogy and though there is some real joy in this book there are also some incredibly sad moments. Vanyel has spent the last few years pulling away from those closest to him in an attempt to prevent them from becoming targets. And at the same time his responsibilities as the most powerful of the Herald mages have continued to increase, requiring him not only to protect the realm but also to take on diplomatic duties with the increasing illness of his king. But Steph, a...

No, that certainly wasn't the ending I was hoping for, but never mind. What really baffles me is the way Mercedes Lackey delivered Vanyel's last stand. Damn, we all knew from the very beginning Vanyel had to face Laereth and was unlikely to make it. Hell, the series is called "The Last Herald Mage of Valdemar" so nothing that happens in the book should come as a huge surprise to the reader. BUT OH MY GOD, did we really need those last 100 pages? And the pacing, don't even get me started. When th...

Things turn much darker in the conclusion (including sexual violence that really didn't contribute much of anything to the story). It's really weirdly paced - a combination of fan service, angst and a final confrontation that happens off page. In fact, a lot of this book could be used to illustrate a lesson on how not to write one's fantasy epic. And yet - there is some charm to this book and to this series, regardless of harmful tropes (less obvious at the time of writing than now), regardless

ALERTA DE SPOILER!!Essa review vai ser da trilogia inteira e não só desse livro. Antes de começar quero deixar algumas coisas bem claras: 1. eu sou burra e incapaz de analisar qualquer fator literário de modo objetivo e 2. toda reclamação ou elogio que tiver pra dar são puramente sentimento ou sobre questões mais 'sociais', perdão se parecer que eu to querendo lacrar, mas tem coisa que realmente me incomodou.Primeiramente - fatores positivos: eu até que gostei desse mundo e desse sistema de mag

*sobs* I mean, I knew what would happen because it's told as a legend/as history in the "Heralds of Valdemar" trilogy but reading it when you are in love with the main characters? Yeah, that's heavy and I cried during the events in the end. :(First of all - I'm so happy that Van found some happiness and love again and that this love came in the shape of Stef - a Bard with the reborn soul of 'Lendel (not that either Van or Stef knew this). I'm so, so, so happy for this and them.Even though - it b...

Imagine being so intent on burying your gays that you invoke reincarnation so you can kill the one gay on the other, then bring that gay back and kill the other on them, and throw some gang rape in for drama. I mean I know this series started in the late 80s but fucking REALLY.

Skimming through some other reviews I passed one that called this book "Cheesy, tawdry, melodramatic". I completely agree, but I actually reveled in those facts while the other reviewer gave it two stars. :P It's definitely over the top and has some logic defying moments, but I find myself quite invested in Valdemar. I *was* a little torn on my rating and I think 4 stars is rounding up for me because there was a resurgence of the plot point that bothered me in the Vows & Honor books I've read so...

I've loved this book for years. Yet it's been awhile since I've read this series and there are so many things I'd forgotten. And yet this still managed to rip my heart out and pull out the tears. I knew what was coming and my heart still broke for Vanyel. Vanyel has sacrificed so much of his life and energy for Valdemar and it's people. He's been so isolated and let's so few people in. I do love how Stef just worms his way into Vanyel's circle and refuses to leave. He's been determined to meet V...

A fitting end to the trilogy - there have been enough hints through the previous two books that you know where it's going (hell, the clues in the name of the trilogy!).As usual, there is a lot of build up and all the action is crammed into the last couple of chapters, but as I knew to expect that it didn't worry me this time round. I was kind of getting a little bit bored with Van's constant angst anyway ... you'd have thought he'd got over a lot of his worries and insecurities by the time this

Another addition to my #readinghistory! Continuing the Mercedes Lackey lurv fest with the Last Herald Mage trilogy. OMG, so much goodness in Vanyel's history. Beautiful Vanyel. *sigh* He wasn't the first gay hero I read, I'm pretty sure, because I wasn't surprised at all by his sexuality. But I'd also had friends who'd come out as gay by then, so Vanyel's journey from not fitting in to finding his first lover felt familiar to me. I loved this story so much, even for its tragedy. Vanyel's arc fro...

Cheesy, tawdry, melodramatic with a hero who supposedly resembles a cross between Fabio, an elf and Gaston from the Disney Beauty & The Beast. I LURVED these so hard when I was a teenager, you better believe it.There's still a little voice inside, today, who says "But... butbutbut...gay protagonist! Romantic storylines and heroism and GAY(yay)!"

2.5Generally a character becomes more likable as a series goes on. But Vanyel actually seems to get worse or at least he doesn't much change as he gets older. It is one thing to see those things in a neglected, abused boy, but they become very unattractive in an adult man. I think part of the problem is that there are times here when he does or says something that just seems to come completely out of the blue. Instances I generally blame on author convenience. (view spoiler)[ "Oh, I want to kill...

Again, a really enjoyable book with an ending I really liked, and if you could please just not with the rape already because that would have made this a much better book. kthx

The last of the Valdemar-Vanyel-magic in this series, and it's taken me a couple of days to digest it. While reading it, I enjoyed it immensely, but it left a lot of questions hanging in thin air. I liked it well enough, it was a good story, but the last half of the book felt hurried, hastily and shoddily put together, and this had me falling out of the narrative more than once. I feel it was not up to Ms Lackey's usual standards. I have only a couple of excerpts from the whole book, which—for m...

We get another time jump from the ending of the last book, this time about ten years. Aside from the Mage Wars trilogy written with Dixon, this is probably one of the few Valdemar trilogies with significant time jumps between books. But that makes sense in that Lackey is telling a story to cover the life of a legend whose fate we already know from the beginning of Arrows of the Queen. I thought the author did a great job of setting up the temporal differences between Vanyel's and Talia's times i...

Hello, hello there are spoilers all over this review. Consider yourself warned.I really wish there was more set up in the previous book for Vanyel and Stefen's relationship (and that Stefan was just a tad older but that's just me). It felt tacked on, rushed and just placed there to make the ending more of a gut punch. Fuck that ending by the way, and it's casual deployment of gang rape on Vanyel. What a horrendously lazy way to inject ineffectual drama in an already stuffed last 1/4 of the book....